Dignitas Infinita

By February of 2024, these changes were made, and in a March 2024 audience held with Pope Francis by Cardinal Fernández and Monsignor Matteo, Secretary of the Doctrinal Section, Dignitas Infinita was ordered to be published.

[15] The declaration is notable for its particular focus on the issue of gender theory, with Dignitas Infinita being the first major Catholic document addressing the subject in detail.

[29][30] However, some pointed out that the Document failed to quote the encyclical Veritatis splendor of Pope John Paul II, which defended the existence of moral absolutes.

[30] Father Raymond J. de Souza wrote on the National Catholic Register that the declaration "will open new avenues for discussion, apologetics and evangelization".

[32][33] Chiego Noguchi, a spokesperson for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) expressed the Conference's gratitude towards Pope Francis for the Document, stating that it "emphasizes the long tradition of the church on the importance of always recognizing, respecting, and protecting the dignity of the human person in all circumstances.”[34] Father James J. Martin SJ, praised the document for condemning discrimination against homosexuals, but also said that the passages on gender theory and sex change were “not surprising” and "in line with previous Vatican statements" on the issue.

[34] Nicolete Burbach, "lead expert in social and environmental justice at the London Jesuit Centre" of the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Farm Street, "said the document showed the Vatican continues to fail to engage with queer and feminist approaches to the body “which it simply dismisses as supposedly subjecting both the body and human dignity itself to human whims.”".

[35] Francis DeBarnardo, the director of New Ways Ministry, lamented the document's "supporting and propagating ideas that lead to real physical harm to transgender, nonbinary, and other LGBT people, while Jamie Manson of Catholics for Choice also said that she does not "buy that women who choose abortion and Catholics who support abortion rights are 'evil' as this document suggests".

[12][36] Sister Jeannine Gramick SL, a leading member of New Ways Ministry wrote a letter to Pope Francis, criticizing language used in the Declaration in relation to LGBT people; the Pope replied that "transgender people must be accepted and integrated into society", but reinstated the condemnation of gender ideology and sex reassignment in the Declaration.